Georgia Farm Bureau News Alert - June 28, 2017

GFB News Alert page 7 of 13 U.S. BANS IMPORTS OF FRESH BEEF FROM BRAZIL On June 22, the USDA announced the suspension of all imports of fresh beef from Brazil, citing concerns about the safety of the products intended for the American market, according to a USDA press release. The suspension of shipments will remain in place until the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture takes corrective action which the USDA finds satisfactory.

“Ensuring the safety of our nation’s food supply is one of our critical missions, and it’s one we undertake with great seriousness,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a prepared statement. “Although international trade is an important part of what we do at USDA, and Brazil has long been one of our partners, my first priority is to protect American consumers. That’s what we’ve done by halting the import of Brazilian fresh beef.”

According to the release, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has been inspecting 100 percent of all meat products arriving in the United States from Brazil since March.

The FSIS has refused entry to 11 percent of Brazilian fresh beef products, a substantially higher rejection rate than the rejection rate of one percent of shipments from the rest of the world. Since implementation of the increased inspection, FSIS has refused entry to 106 lots (approximately 1.9 million pounds) of Brazilian beef products due to public health concerns, sanitary conditions, and animal health issues. It is important to note that none of the rejected lots made it into the U.S. market. The USDA indicated that the Brazilian government had pledged to address those concerns, including self-suspending five facilities from shipping beef to the United States.

GFB’S GAZDA CHOSEN FOR AGL TRAINING PROGRAM Georgia Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture Executive Director Katie Gazda is one of 25 professionals from across the state chosen to participate in the Advancing Georgia’s Leaders in Agriculture and Forestry (AGL) 2017-2019 class. The group represents a broad cross section of ag corporations, businesses and organizations throughout Georgia.

Organized by the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, the purpose of AGL is to educate and empower Georgia’s agricultural leaders to become effective advocates for the largest economic drivers in Georgia — the state’s agriculture and forestry industries.

The AGL program is designed to bring together leaders from all segments of the state’s agriculture, forestry, natural resources and allied industries. Over Katie Gazda 22 months, they will help one another grow through personalized leadership development geared toward understanding themselves as leaders, analyzing issues facing their industries and strengthening connections to become catalysts for positive change.

In 1991, community and state leaders started participating in the original, agriculture-based leadership development program known as “Agri-Leaders,” which was sponsored by the Georgia Agri-Leaders Forum Foundation. Since that time, 375 of Georgia’s business leaders, farmers, foresters, educators and other stakeholders completed the program and became more effective leaders and advocates.

In AGL, participants will complete six in-state institutes, an advocacy institute in Washington, D.C., and an international experience in Costa Rica. This will be the third class of AGL participants to experience transformational leadership development through the UGA program.

For more information about AGL visit www.agl.caes.uga.edu.